In the laying of tile, brick, marble, and other building material to form a load bearing and/or aesthetically pleasing mosaic pattern or surface, care must be taken that the pieces forming the surface fit together properly. This may require precision fitting of the pieces which can only be accomplished by taking accurate, on-site measurements and cutting individual pieces as required. For example, in laying tile over a subflooring, individual tiles must be cut to conform to adjacent wall surfaces and to bypass obstructions. This involves taking measurements of the subflooring to be covered by the tile, transferring the measurements to the tile by drawing cut lines on the tile, and then cutting the tile along the cut lines. This procedure is very time consuming and is subject to measurement errors, since two numerical measurements must be taken, i.e., first on the subflooring and then on the tile itself, each of which can be a source of error.
Another source of error results from the need to compensate for a grout line. Tile pieces are often not joined flush with each other but are separated by a layer of grout which serves to seal and adhere the tile pieces together. In cutting the tile pieces, the width of the grout line must be taken into account. If not accurately measured, the grout line between the tiles may vary, leading to an unascetic appearance and possibly weakening the tile-to-tile adhesive bond. Compensating for a grout line in a tile piece which also requires complex cutouts can be difficult, since the cutouts are "shifted" by the width of the grout line on one or more sides of the tile.
Because of the complexity and error in making cut line measurements, often only rough measurements are made (either mental or actual) and then the tile is cut to its final shape by trial and error. This method is also time consuming, however, and may result in wasted tile pieces.
There is accordingly a need in the art for a method for quickly and accurately measuring cut lines in tile, brick, marble and other building materials which form a mosaic pattern.